“Science has progressed, unfortunately mentalities have not,” laments the director of the association

Lack of knowledge of the disease “is an obstacle to controlling the epidemic”, said Florence Thune on Friday on France Inter.

“There is a long way to go, because science has progressed, unfortunately mentalities have not”, asserts, Friday March 22 on France Inter, Florence Thune, general director of Sidaction. The HIV association is organizing its 30th donation collection campaign Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Lack of awareness of the disease “obstructs control of the epidemic”according to the director.

At the end of last November, an Ifop poll for Sidaction revealed that 30% of 15-24 year olds thought that the AIDS virus can be transmitted by kissing someone with HIV (a statistic up 13 points over one year). “If young people are less informed, it is also because they receive fewer sexuality education sessions”believes Florence Thune. “We need more sexuality education in high schools.”

According to the general director of Sidaction, some people do not get tested for HIV for fear of the discrimination they could suffer, and therefore their health “can deteriorate” And “HIV continues to circulate”. In France, 200,000 people live with HIV and 5,000 learn of their HIV status each year.

Concern around the questioning of the AME

UNAIDS estimated, at the end of last November, that it was possible to end the epidemic by 2030. But, for Florence Thune, “it is complicated” : “In 2020, we should have had 500,000 new infections, we are still at 1.3 million.” She notes, for example, the legal obstacles that appear in certain countries, such as Ghana or Uganda, where homosexuality is criminalized and where it is therefore difficult for a homosexual person “to go to a doctor or to a prevention association”.

In France, “the immigration law will move backwards on access to health for migrants”, estimates the general director of Sidaction. She is concerned about the questioning of State medical aid (AME) which allows people in an irregular situation to benefit from health protection. “Again, undocumented people” might not “benefit from simple access to care” for several months while “during this time, health may deteriorate for people living with HIV”she explains.